ArizonaRoute 66

Welcome to Route 66
in Arizona!

Route 66 in Arizona is
as colorful a stretch of the old Mother Road as can be found anywhere. It is a land of
volcanoes, meteor craters, petrified forests and cool pine forests. Route 66 was the
gateway to the Grand Canyon State and adventure. The history of the Native Americans,
early pioneers, railroads, cattle drives, outlaws, and adventurers is forever entwined
with the history of Arizona's Route 66. People seeking fame and fortune traveled the old
trails and rails over the route that would someday become Route 66. A route that was
conceived and blazed with one of the most outrageous expeditions in American history I
might add!

What do Camels have to do with Route 66 you
might ask? Actually a lot if you go back far enough. As a result of the gold rush of 1849,
interest in transportation routes into California became more intense and widespread. In
the 1850s, Congress commissioned surveys for a proposed transcontinental railroad. In 1853
four railroad surveys were authorized; one of the proposed routes was the 35th parallel
running from Fort Smith Arkansas to Los Angeles. Lieutenant Amiel W. Whipple led the first
expedition in 1853 across the route that would someday become Route 66. Perhaps one of the
most interesting expeditions over the 35th parallel was in 1857 and used camels!

Beale's Camel Corps 1857

In 1857, Congress commissioned
LT. Ned Beale to survey and identify a wagon road from Fort Defiance in New Mexico to the
Colorado River. His route would become known as the Beale Wagon Road across Arizona.
Perhaps what makes Beales expedition so noteworthy in western annals is that he used
camels instead of horses! Lieutenant "Ned" Beale was in charge of a most unusual
experiment. Camels were well suited to the arid southwest and the camel experiment was a
resounding success. Camels very possibly could have become a fixture in the old west, and
may have replaced the horse in importance, if the Civil War hadn't broken out and the
camel experiment was dropped.

Canyon Diablo

The Beale Survey trail would become the
Beale Wagon Road, a route that would be followed almost 70 years later by Route 66. The
Atlantic and Pacific Railroad (now Santa Fe RR) laid its tracks along Beale's Camel Road
in the 1880's. These are the same tracks that ran parallel to Route 66 throughout the
Southwest, and still run parallel to Interstate 40 today. Beales wagon road remained
an unimproved trail across the largely uninhabited desert Southwest throughout the
nineteenth century. Not until the arrival of automobiles in the first decade of the
twentieth century did the American public begin to clamor for the routes
improvement.

Cruising down Interstate 40
today it is hard to imagine all the people who have gone this way over the years. Even
Canyon Diablo, so named because it was a major obstacle to the early travelers, is hardly
noticeable at the interstate speed of 75 miles per hour when you cross it at Two Guns.

Arizona was a tourist's paradise from day one. The
Grand Canyon, and Painted Desert, not to mention the romance of Indian Country and the Old
West attracted visitors from all over the world. The Santa Fe Railroad launched an
extensive campaign at the turn of the century to lure tourists out to the wild west and
mingle with the local cowboys and Indians. With the advent of Route 66, tourism became a
major economic resource along the old road. For many easterners, Route 66 in Arizona and
New Mexico afforded them their first encounter with Native Americans. Arizona was Indian
Country! If you like Trading Posts, Arizona was the place to be.

Vintage Arizona Post Cards from
the Golden Years of Route 66

Click
on an area or city of Route 66 on the map below to take a cyber tour of that section of
the Mother Road

NAVIGATION NOTE: Buckle up and hold on to your mouse! These pages are arranged like the
map above, Oatman being West Route 66 and the Painted Desert East Route 66. I have set up
this site as if you were traveling from EAST to WEST, much like the Joad family in The
Grapes of Wrath. You can click on the Route 66 shields to "travel"
the Mother Road in either direction though. Or you can select any shield below to take you
to that specific state.